Friday, 19 May 2017

Procter & Gamble, a leading FMCG company in Nigeria, has further shown its commitment to Gender Equality and Supplier Diversity through its partnership with WeConnect International in Nigeria to introduce the Women’s Business Development Program. Over 50 Women Owned Business Entrepreneurs (WBEs) located in Ibadan, Oyo State, took part in the training which was held at the P&G Ibadan Plant Site on the 18th of May 2017.

The programme was designed to improve the entrepreneurial potentials of the women and also expand the supplier development programmes beyond the walls of P&G to Women Entrepreneurs through connections and trainings.Speaking on the training sessions, Peter Orji, P&G’s Ibadan Plant Manager, and one of the program facilitators, elaborated on the importance of empowering women. He explained that P&G is renowned for women empowerment and as an extension, the organization decided to partner with WeConnect in order to empower women entrepreneurs.

According to him, “P&G is committed to advancing and supporting the growth of Nigerian small, medium scale enterprises owned by women and improve their management and operational skills. Women need to be upskilled alongside their male contemporaries in thriving economic climes in order to actively contribute to the growth of the nation at large.”

The women entrepreneurs were trained on modules such as: Entrepreneurship and Strategy Development, Human Resource Development, Assessing Finance and Visibility for Personal & Corporate Branding using Digital Media & Tools. Insights were also given on P&Gs procurement processes which intimated the participants on the company’s sourcing principles and how to do business with P&G.

One of the participants at the training and a certified WeConnect member, Femi Olayebi, Chief Creative Director of My World of Bags, appreciated P&G and WeConnect for prioritizing women and creating diverse opportunities to empower them. She stated that “many organizations do not give women enough support but partnerships like these have equipped me to positively contribute to the family and to the nation at large.”

According to a report by McKinsey’s in 2016, if women were allowed to equally participate in the economy, they could add as much as $28 trillion or 26 percent to the annual global GDP in 2025.

P&G is one of the global advocates of women empowerment. Currently there is a global campaign led by the organization tagged ‘We See Equal’ which is a celebration of women and gender equality. This initiative will empower millions of women and create global pride in women breaking the glass ceiling and help shape the societal perception of women in business and in general.